PBS wants to reinvent Mystery! without Brits; Eaton sounds skeptical
Originally published in Current, Feb. 12, 2001
By Stephanie LashViewers itching for their beloved British detectives might have to look elsewhere next year. PBS is considering dropping its 21-year-old series Mystery! in favor of finding American mysteries to bring to the screen.
In its continuing effort to "keep the best and reinvent the rest," PBS is hoping to carve out a niche for itself in American mystery stories, owing to the ready availability of British drama available on cable television. Under President Pat Mitchell's direction, PBS is in talks with the series' producer, WGBH, to revamp and possibly replace the old series with individual mystery specials featuring stories by a diverse group of American authors.
Whether the new productions will still be presented under the title Mystery! is still under negotiation, as is the future of any original dramas. PBS programmer John Wilson said the current crop of Mystery! shows are funded until early 2002, and repeats could possibly continue beyond that. But change is coming.
"We're trying to add new things, and we want to see something like Mystery!--which clearly has a following as a genre--continue, but we'd like it continued in a way that will truly make it stand out," Wilson said.
The current arrangement for Mystery! allows PBS to pay approximately $5 million a year for 24 hours of original British drama, explained Rebecca Eaton, executive producer. For a series that costs $50 million a year to produce, the deal is a good one, she said. Producing drama on this side of the ocean, however, would be far more costly.
"I support certainly [Mitchell's] efforts to keep PBS vital, but Mystery! is one of my two children," said Rebecca Eaton, who also heads Masterpiece Theatre. "It's also a brand, and it took 21 years to build. The retiring of a brand is, in a brand-sensitive era, a scary thing to me."
Whether PBS has the ability to foot the bill for such productions remains to be seen. It is now the primary supporter of Mystery! along with underwriters Looksmart and Alibris, since Mobil pulled its support
Eaton said she knows how much American material awaits dramatization. But if PBS does halt the British series after next winter, she said stations could pick up the tab and support the show through WGBH.
British actor Robson Green goes after usually British serial killers in Mystery! mini-series Touching Evil.
. To Current's home page . Earlier news: CPB and PBS helped Mystery's sister series, Masterpiece Theatre, add American drama. . Outside link: Mystery! site at PBS.org.
Web page posted Feb. 20, 2001
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